DPOY, don't question his ability to play defense. If Nash plays defense in the NBA, Rubio can too.

6'4", 18 years old, incredible vision

The only reason why Blake Griffin is #1 pick is because he is guaranteed to be a solid starter at minimum.
Rubio can possibly become a bust, but his absolute potential in my opinion is higher than Griffin's.

He needs to work on his shooting a little, but it has shown massive improvement over the past year. Even though he played most of the season with a CAST on his shooting wrist he still shot 43% from three. 81% from foul line. He doesn't have much of a mid range game. That could be improved upon, especially if he added something like Nash's quick 15 foot jumpers to his arsenal.

His defense is breathtaking. He was ACB defensive player of the year. His ability to steal the ball is unlike any player we have ever seen. As a 16 year old in the Euroleague he averaged 3.5 steals a game in only 18 minutes of action!

His basketball IQ is off the charts, although I don't think anyone can say what his comprehension of NBA ball is like as he hasn't played a game there yet.

Man, he doesn't have to work on his shot a little, he needs to work A LOT. It's terrible, disgraceful. Anyways, you improve your shooting with age and sometimes we just don't remember that this kid is FUKING DARN 18 YEAR OLD. He's being playing between pros since age 14, he played face to face against THE BEST players in the world during the Olympic's finals and everyone who watched wouldn't have said that little kid was the worst player in the floor, at all.

I can't help but laugh at people saying that he'll be a bust, or that NBA is way different than Europe so he won't be that good, or blah blah blah. This kid has been breaking records since AGE 14, always playing against pros. He's not stupid or weak. He's a leader, and he's leading a team during ACB Playoffs at age 18. Even though he's not that athletic, he has great body and height to be a PG. His IQ is just something unseen at that age, ever.
He's one of the best defensive players IN THE WHOLE CONTINENT, if not the best, again at age 18. That will make sure that he gets minutes from day 1 in the NBA, just what he needs, experience and learning. Expect something like 10/8/5/3 in his first season.

I saw him play in march, also against Real Madrid. It was clear that he is not that athletic but it really does not matter. He reminds me of Andre Miller in some sense because Andre Miller is slow and not athletic but still is crafty and smart enough to beat defenders and I think Rubio will be the same way. Also, his +/- was really good and the only time DKV was scoring was when Rubio was in the game.

Spanish League is on of the toughest apart from the NBA. This league has given the NBA players like Pau and Marc Gasol, Rudy Fernandez, Jose Calderon and guys like Jose Garbajosa and Navarro were solid in their one and only year in the league too. Ricky has played alongside most of them on the national team and still stood out.

And yes (look at my avatar) I'm a rubio fan, but I try to be objective
His jumpshot, speed, athleticism and ability to finish are still questionable and will need development. He should have a solid impact from the start though, based on court vision, handling and defense. why are there doubts about his defense?? (he won Defensive Player of the Year in Spain.. )

The two best teams are Tau Ceramica and FC Barcelona. Unicaja Malaga is the third best team.

Tau has Pablo Prigioni (Argentina starting PG), Igor Rakocevic (best player on Serbian national team and used to play for the Timberwolves), and Tiago Splitter (drafted 1st round by Spurs and may come over in a few years when his contract is up), Pete Mickeal -Knicks, Rockets,

FC Barcelona has Juan Carlos Navarro, Fran Vasquez (picked 11th overall by Orlando Magic, which would have game them a killer frontcourt, but he signed with Barcelona instead...needless to say the Magic were pissed!), Ersan Illyasova (former Milwaukee Buck) and David Anderson (who was drafted by the Hawks and may come over next year)

This year's MVP was Felipe Reyes..who plays for Spains national team and torched the US in the Olympics.

Rudy and Ricky played on the same team. It was quite the exciting backcourt.

To give an indication of how good these ACB teams are.. The Lakers beat FC Barcelona 108-104 at the Staples Center this past October in a game played under NBA rules. Which was obviously a huge hindrance to FC Barcelona. And Unicaja beat the Grizzlies

The pass was very good. Not the sickest pass ever, but very good. He steals the ball from the guy, scoop passes it behind him, puts almost perfect spin on the ball so it doesn't go too far or too short, it bounces right where the guy streaking down the court can grab it and go up for an easy basket.

People saying that pass would have been intercepted in the NBA are wrong. There was no one there to intercept it in this situation. No one I saw anyway.

I'm very excited to see what he can do in the NBA. I just hope whoever drafts him gives him a real shot to perform, at least solid bench minutes.

FC Barcelona has Juan Carlos Navarro, Fran Vasquez (picked 11th overall by Orlando Magic, which would have game them a killer frontcourt, but he signed with Barcelona instead...needless to say the Magic were pissed!), Ersan Illyasova (former Milwaukee Buck) and David Anderson (who was drafted by the Hawks and may come over next year)

Fran Vazquez signed with Akasvayu Girona IIRC, not Barcelona. That happened later.